Ghosts of the Past
by lawnobaby
Summary: Before the events of 1864, Ben and Sabrina lived with the Salvatores. Decades later, they return to Mystic Falls and reunite with a couple of unlikely companions. Will lost love be renewed? Or will a fierce bitterness for an old flame be the chosen path?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is the prologue/first shorter chapter of "GotP". Story of Sabrina and Benjamin Corelli that I couldn't get out of my head for a long time. I'm not sure how fast of an updater I am... life just takes so much time! I'll feel guilty if I don't ever update again, but I'm not promising anything. It takes me a while to write the chapters as well because I like to double check all facts and dialogue as well as my attempts to keep the characters in character. I also have to be in the right mood. *sigh* the snobbiness of authors. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Only Sabs and Benji.**

Prologue

They say there are things worse than death: trauma or heartbreak. But how would they know? They've never died. That's the difference between those people and me, it seems. But of every imaginable thing out there, wouldn't one thing be worse? I've come to think that the only thing worse than death itself is _life_. The pain and the harsh sting of life can be hard to endure. So how about life _after_ death? I remember the feeling of my very spirit being drained out of me. All I wanted was for death to come… and it did. Sweet relief until of course it finally dawned on me: I wasn't a dead person…. I was a piece of death itself. That is the curse my brother and I have been forced to deal with for quite a while now. We are death, and there is no escaping it.

"What are you thinking about? You better smooth that furrow in your brow, you don't want wrinkles now do you?" Benjamin said to me, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Don't you ever wonder what our lives would have been like if our parents hadn't gotten sick?" I asked him.

"No use crying over spilt milk, that's what I always say," Ben joked, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"You would have met a nice girl, married her, had kids and all the other stuff that comes with growing up. I would have been Auntie Bri-Bri. They would have come crying to me after you punished them for convincing the maids to give them sweets before dinner," I said in a sort of far-away voice.

"And you never would have met Damon."

"Who says that's a bad thing? He's dead anyway thanks to that bitch Katherine and her manipulative, slutty tendencies." I could hear the venom in my voice at I said that little psycho's name.

"You know you don't mean that, Sabrina. The time we spent with the Salvatores made the best memories of our lives. And it _was_ because Elena looks like Katherine that we decided to stay in Mystic Falls in the first place. The Gilberts have been nothing if not welcoming." As Ben said it I could detect just the smallest hint of a chuckle coming through.

"Right, because the Gilberts took us in by _choice_!" I practically barked out a laugh at the thought of us slinking into their family without the heavy compulsion on both our parts.

"I'm sure our charm would have been enough," he chuckled, "and don't forget my incredible baking skills."

"Your baking skills?" I asked incredulously, "last time I checked, it was me with the kitchen handiness. You can hardly make toast without burning it!"

"Alright alright, but as I was saying: the Gilberts have been a remarkable help."

"I do feel bad about forcing ourselves on them just to keep a closer eye on Elena. First we had to compel Grayson and Miranda into thinking that we were helpless teenage orphans abandoned in Mystic Falls when our alcoholic father drank himself to death; it was because of our mother's tragic river rapids demise, afterall. Then we had the compel Jenna into thinking that she would do _anything_ to help us. Finally we had to kick our vampire habits and start acting like regular teenagers. We aren't even _in_ our teens! We're physically twenty-one!" There I go again with the rambling.

"Twenty-one? Oh yeah, that's right! We were killed a couple months before our twenty-second birthday! And the fun we had on that next Halloween… Oh, the irony," Ben was laughing, _again_. I swear he doesn't know how to be serious for more than ten minutes.

"Never would have happened if it wasn't for Katherine," I grumbled, mostly to myself.

"I don't really mind being a vampire, you know. It's actually a pretty sweet deal; no rules, no people I have to impress, no responsibilities…" That's Ben: always the optimist.

"I guess so, but it never bothers you that you'll be stuck like this _forever_?"

"Why would it bother me? I'm going to be young and gorgeous for the rest of eternity. Only a complete idiot wouldn't want something like that," said Ben with compete confidence.

"Stefan never would have wanted it," I said quietly.

"Sabrina! Enough about the past already, what's done is done. End. Of. Story. The Salvatores are dead. Katherine Pierce is dead. Emily Bennett is dead. Hell, we're even dead!" He looked over at me as he said this.

"Just keep your eyes on the road."

* * *

><p>"I look okay, right?" I asked my brother for what must have been the fifth time. I have dark brown hair; some even say it looks black, and it falls down my back in loose ringlets and waves. As I looked in the mirror on the sun visor on the passenger side of our shared black 2005 Mustang Convertible GT, I noticed my already fair skin was slightly paler, and there was a sad look in my gray-blue eyes. I would miss New Orleans; it's one of my favorite cities.<p>

"Sabs, how many times do I have to tell you?" Ben answered, exasperated. He's my twin, so a compliment on my appearance must be one on his, right? He has hair like mine, only much shorter and a little straighter, hitting just above his eyebrows in the front, and the middle of his neck in back. Not to mention his skin was a little darker and his eyes more of a gray-green color.

"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. Being in Mystic Falls reminds me so much of our past. It's always the hardest the first couple weeks back. And besides, we haven't seen Elena in two months. What if she's a complete wreck? We never should have left her alone. I mean, for God's sake! Her parents just died!" By this point I was in hysterics, worried that my "cousin" was lying on her death bed because of a broken heart.

"You do realize that we aren't _actually _related to her, right?"

"Of course I know that, Benji! But don't try to pretend that you don't like her. She's nothing like Katherine. Besides, don't you find it fun playing our little game of 'orphans-who-need-help'? We get to go to a real high school, be a couple of popular kids there, are invited to the best parties with all-you-can-eat buffets of drunk and high teenagers, not that we get to take advantage of that with the ever looming Council, and don't forget about the elite little Founding Families social crap we get to go to, or at least _used_ to be able to go to. I guess being a Corelli just doesn't cut it anymore, huh? Living with the Salvatores back in the day got us into all the parties. Without the Gilberts nowadays, I don't know where we'd be," Now I was just rambling, trying to convince myself that we should go back to Mystic Falls. Being in that town brought on heartache, but I needed to be strong and just get the hell over it. I don't know what I would do without Ben by my side.

Ben just laughed at me as we made our drive to the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. I just stared out the window for a while before getting lost in my thoughts.

_ It was 1863. Benjamin and Damon were coming home on leave from the Confederacy. We were expecting them anytime. Benjamin never would have gone in the first place if Damon hadn't convinced him that it would be fun. Now my two best boys were off risking their lives for the country. I wouldn't be able to survive without their frequent letters back home. I was currently sitting in the shade of an apple tree when I heard someone behind me._

"_What might a lovely lady be doing all alone on as fine a day as this?" my brother said._

_ I turned around and spotted Benjamin and Damon walking up to me. I immediately stood up and ran to them. Grabbing my brother in a hug I squeezed as tightly as I could. Next I wrapped my arms around Damon._

"_You're home!" I squealed, pulling back. I was ecstatic to see them._

"_I'm glad we were missed," Damon said with his usual smirk._

"_Did you expect anything less?" I asked with my eyebrows raised._

"_I suppose not," he replied._

"_I am going to see what Stefan is up to," Benjamin said before leaving the two of us alone. I imagine he did it on purpose._

"_How was it fighting the Yankees?"_

"_Brilliant. It was a new adventure every day. You would love it," he told me._

"_Perhaps next time I shall join you. After all, with a protector such as you, I will always be safe," I said with a sly smile as I drew nearer to him once more._

"_That you would, my darling," he said with a coy grin, pulling me close to him. "But I have a secret."_

"_And what might that be?" I asked him, leaning my head on his shoulder._

_ Damon leaned his mouth toward my ear, "All the boys at camp take out pictures of their betrothed, even their wives. It's got me thinking."_

_ I lifted my head up. "About what?"_

"_When we were thirteen we shared a kiss and swore we would never tell a soul as long as we lived. At sixteen, we were drunk and lost our virtue in a night of passion. We have been the best of friends for years, and life is short. There has been one thing I've not been able to get off my mind in the past months." He looked into my eyes and I moved before he even had the chance to._

_ Our lips met like they had four long years before. The kiss was slow and tender at first as we took in the feeling. His arms went around my waist and my hands found his hair as the kiss deepened and became more intense. Finally after what seemed like eternity, we broke apart._

"_I see I wasn't the only one thinking on it," he said, a smirk back on his lips._

"_I've missed you so much, Damon," I told him._

"_I have missed you too, Abri. More than anything."_

Back in the present day, Ben and I were just passing a sign with "Welcome to Mystic Falls" on it. Being back in the small town felt nice, as if we were where we belonged.

"Home sweet home," Ben said with an air of humor surrounding the statement.

We finally arrived in front of the quaint house on Maple Street. It belonged to the Gilberts. Ben parked the car and I took a shaky breath.

"Here we go again," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. I helped Ben grab the bags out of the trunk and we made our way to the front door.

Upon entrance into the house, everything seemed normal, but I heard a lot of noise coming front the living room. Putting the luggage down by the stairs I motioned for Ben to follow me. When we reached the living room, I gasped. Not only was Elena there, but also Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Tyler Lockwood, and Matt Donovan.

"Surprise!" Elena exclaimed before coming over and giving both Ben and me a big hug each.

"What's everyone doing here?" I asked her.

"We're here to welcome you back, of course," Caroline explained as if to a couple of five-year-olds. She then proceeded to grab me in a hug, followed closely afterward by Bonnie, who put one arm around me and the other around Ben. She stiffened and pulled back, a confused expression on her face.

"Everything alright?" I questioned her.

"Yeah…yeah, I just remembered something I have to do later." I wasn't entirely convinced.

I walked up to Tyler while Ben greeted Matt. The thing with Tyler… we used to date. It was a short fling, nothing too serious. I broke up with him because I knew it wasn't going anywhere, beside the fact that he's always had a thing for Matt's older sister, Vicki. We're still really close friends though. A shoulder to cry on, a friend to stay up late watching old movies with: that's the two of us. Ben is good friends with both Tyler and Matt. They bonded over football while I got closer to Bonnie and Caroline by joining the cheerleading squad as a kind of joke. Not to mention that Ben hooked up with Caroline for a short time… most guys have. They still talk from time to time, but Caroline's more my friend than his.

"How's my favorite cheerleader?" Tyler asked as he hugged me and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Never better," I said with a sigh. Tyler gave me a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" Quick, something believable…. Got it!

"I just can't believe summer is over already. It's already Saturday night and I really don't want to go back to school," I groaned.

"We could always ditch." Tyler gave me a mischievous smile.

"As much fun as that would be," I said, "if I ditch the first day, I'll never go back. What would Mr. Tanner say if he knew he wasn't going to have me around to bug him all the time?"

Tyler snickered. It was a known fact that all of the teachers at Mystic Falls High School hated me. I have a knack for troublemaking.

Several hours later our friends had left and it was just Elena left with Ben and me. She had explained that Jenna was working late and Jeremy was off with some of his crack head friends.

"Well I for one am exhausted," I said as I made my way to the stairs. I eyed the baggage and decided to leave it for Ben to carry up. I'm lazy. So what?

"Good night!" I heard Elena call. Ben followed with a mumbled farewell.

I walked toward my room thinking one thing: Time to cause some more trouble in Mystic Falls.

**A/N: Tada! How was it? Don't forget to tell me in a review! No pressure though, I'm being a hypocrite: I usually forget to review.**

**Sincerely- LB**


	2. High School

**A****/N: So here's the first actual "chapter" of the story. Yay for updating... Though a little secret? I already had this written when I posted the prologue... I'm just afraid of taking forever to update, so I'm using pre-written things as a safety net. **

**I don't know of any errors in the chapter, but I don't have a beta, so there probably will be some... Also (for the record) I'm not completely sure where I want the story to go yet, as tends to be a problem with TV shows: so suggestions are welcome. I may put up a poll or something. Anyway the point of that was to ask forgiveness on anything bland and/or unoriginal stuff... **

**Oh yeah! So I've haven't done my profile yet, so when I do this will be there: I describe Sabrina's outfits for a personality kind of thing. They're on Polyvore (the website) the address (not sure if I can post it) is lawnobaby(dot)polyvore(dot)com. It's pretty easy to pick out which outfit I described in the chapter in the TVD collection, which is necessary to do BECAUSE I HAVE OUTFITS FOR CHAPTERS THAT ONLY EXIST IN MY HEAD! What? Wait, I thought there was no plan? Yeah, there really isn't an _actual_ plan.**

** I'll stop rambling now... Sorry. :)  
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**Disclaimer: I only own Sabrina and Benjamin! No one else (even though I'd like to)  
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High School

As I walked down the familiar halls of Mystic Falls High School, I thought about how I would spend my time in this dreary little town. There's only so much trouble one person, or vampire, can cause in a tiny high school. I took in my surroundings. Everything was just as it was when I had left. Bland, white walls and linoleum flooring, graffiti on some of the lockers, and the stench of dirty gym socks were all around me. Yup, I'm in a high school alright. I made my way to my first class of the day: history with Mr. Tanner. This is going to be fun; my reputation of total nuisance at this school has caused all of the teachers to despise me, especially Mr. Tanner. That may be due to the fact that I enjoy calling him "The Tan Man" and to say the least, he kind of hates it.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. All heads turned to me and Tanner let out a distinct groan. I saw my brother, Benjamin, sitting in the desk right in the center of the front row. We like to play with the staff of Mystic Falls High School. Ben acts all goody-two-shoes and I am his evil twin. We really are twins, but we are also extremely similar. I somehow convinced him to be a good boy, but he said that this year would be different. _Bring it on_ I had said, laughing at the thought of everyone thinking that the sweet and innocent Benjamin Corelli had turned bad like his rebellious sister, Sabrina.

"I see you've decided to join us, Miss Corelli. Didn't want to be on time like your brother?" Mr. Tanner spat at me.

"I wouldn't get used to it," Ben drawled, officially starting his 'transformation' in the eyes of the teachers. By the expression on Tanner's face, it was definitely working in our favor. It was a sort of cross between embarrassment and constipation. This year was starting on a great note.

"Excuse me?" Tanner did _not_ like that one. Oh look! His face was getting all red too. Yummy, what I wouldn't do for some blood right about now.

I'd skipped my morning meal to pick out the perfect outfit for the first day of school. As cliché as that sounds, I wanted to make the right impression. Of course, not the usual impression one would want to make; I wanted an ensemble that said "I'm cute and flirty, but mess with me and I'll rip your head off." I settled for some dark denim skinny jeans, a grey flowing blouse, and a long, black open-front cardigan. I topped it off with some high open-toe sling backs and a silver heart shaped pendant around my neck with some matching studs in my ears. My signature school bag was just a white, oversized shoulder purse. My hair was in its natural state: loose ringlets hanging down my back to just below my rib cage.

"You heard what he said, Tan Man. Benji chose this year to return to his loose, way more fun way of living," I looked over at my brother, "and, man, do I love it. You were so _boring_ playing by the rules. I'll admit I regret telling you to do it."

"Thanks sis," Ben said, voice positively _dripping_ with sarcasm.

I flashed him a quick smile.

"Just have a seat, Miss Corelli," Tanner ordered me. I had to roll me eyes. As if he had any authority over me anyway. He could be dead on the floor before he even had time to see his life flashing before his eyes if I felt like killing him.

I went straight to the tiny school desk right by Mr. Tanner's desk area just to annoy him, and by the sound of his sigh, I'd say it was working. I put my bag on the floor, leaned back in my chair, and got ready to evaluate the situation. Bugging teachers to no end is harder than it sounds. First I have to figure out their method of showing authority, all the better to corrupt it. Next is their teaching style; in order to make sure they _knew_ that I was paying absolutely no attention, I had to know how they tried teaching the good little children. And finally: I had to see who was sitting around me, so I could talk to them in an attempt to destroy everyone else's chances of learning too. That's one of the reasons I try to avoid sitting next to a teacher's pet, but I don't think _anyone_ liked Tanner.

Mr. Tanner was already in the middle of a boring lecture about class rules, as if I could care less. I reached into my bag and pulled out a water bottle and shot a smirk in Ben's direction. Plastic makes noise, but how could I be blamed for being thirsty, right? I unscrewed the cap and placed the opening to my lips. I drank some of the water as I glanced around the room, looking for some familiar faces. I noticed Matt Donovan right away; he's a good guy. Continuing my search I found Bonnie and Elena, so I gave them each a small wave. Who I saw next made me choke on the gulp of water that I had just swallowed.

I pulled the bottle from my mouth as I started having a coughing fit. Everyone turned to look at me and I just stared at him. It couldn't be, right? He died in 1864 when his own father shot him in the chest. But the resemblance was uncanny. He is another doppelganger, maybe? But that's not possible. Elena's the only look-alike here. I quickly glanced over at Ben to see if he had noticed. I guess my staring had tipped him off because he was now staring at the same person I was.

"Sabrina, are you okay?" The voice belonged to Elena, but I was too shocked to answer.

"If we're all done here, I'd like to continue. Ah yes, incompletion penalties." I tuned out the rest of whatever it was Mr. Tanner was talking about and shook myself out of daze I was in.

I felt my iPhone vibrate and looked at the screen. I had a new message from Ben. I quickly unlocked the screen and read it.

_Do you think it's him? _were the words on the small screen.

I quickly answered with _We have to find out. Say his name or something_.

_No way… You do it! _was his reply.

Ugh, now what? My chicken of a brother won't even find out for us. _Fine. We'll talk to him later_ I typed before hitting send and putting by my phone back into the pocket of my jeans.

I was uncharacteristically quiet that class period, which I'm sure Tanner was pretty darn happy about. I just stared ahead and remained lost in my thoughts…

_I was nervous. Benjamin and I were about to arrive at our new home in Mystic Falls, Virginia. We were born in a small town in North Carolina on December 1, 1842. After our parents died of pneumonia when we were seven, we were sent to live with our grandmother. It was just the two of us: the Corelli twins. After about three years of living with her, she became too feeble to be able to take care of Benjamin and me. That was all back in North Carolina. Grandmother had a close friend it this town and he offered to take us in. He is an Italian man by the name of Giuseppe Salvatore. His wife died some years back, and he now lives with just his two sons. They own a big estate with horses and magnificent gardens, or so Grandmother told me. It isn't that I am not grateful for the generosity of the Salvatores for opening their home up to my brother and me, but I will very much miss my North Carolina home and the friends I have left behind._

"_We have arrived," our stage coach driver announced._

"_Here we go," I said nervously to my brother, taking a deep breath._

"_It'll be wonderful, just wait," Benjamin replied, smiling encouragingly at me. That was my Benjamin, always the protector, my rock. He kept me company when I was sick, comforted me during thunderstorms, and helped me when I was in trouble._

_I could hear voices outside, and when the door to the carriage opened I saw a friendly enough looking man standing in front of two young boys. One had dark hair like Benjamin and me as well as bright blue eyes. He looked like he was our age. The other must have been his younger brother. His hair was a lighter brown and his eyes were a warm shade of green._

_Benjamin jumped right out of the carriage and held out a hand to help me out. I took his hand timidly and leaped out, holding my skirts in my other hand. Mr. Salvatore watched in amusement while the two boys, who must have been his sons, looked on with big smiles on each of their faces._

"_Ah, the Corelli twins. You, young man must be Benjamin. And this pretty young lady is Sabrina, am I correct?" Giuseppe spoke in a gentle voice as if he were afraid that if he spoke too loudly he might frighten us._

"_Yes Sir," Benjamin answered his question for me. I just nodded shyly. I always took a while to warm up to strangers, and Benjamin knew it._

"_These two are my sons: Damon and Stefan," Giuseppe informed, nodding to the boys._

"_Damon Salvatore. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," the dark haired boy, Damon, first shook Benjamin's hand and then took my hand and kissed it. I blushed and let out a small giggle, for it was unusual for children to introduce themselves in this manner. Mr. Salvatore shot Damon a stern look as he stepped back._

"_And I am Stefan," the green-eyed boy said while bowing slightly. Giuseppe looked more pleased with Stefan's actions._

"_It is very nice to meet you both." I curtsied, just as my mother had taught me was respectable for a lady to do._

"_I am sure that we will all get along very well," Benjamin told us with a broad smile._

_That day was the beginning of the greatest adventure of our lives._

The sound of the school bell brought me out of my reveries. I looked up to see Ben standing by desk, a serious look on his usually amused features. I picked up my bag and Ben nodded his head toward the guy we had stared at during my sputtering session; we made our way over to the boy without saying a word. At the sound of our footsteps, he looked up, wearing a perplexed expression.

"Benjamin and Sabrina Corelli, and you are?" Ben was playing it safe. Good call.

"Stefan Salvatore, but you already knew that," he told us cautiously.

A smile broke out on my face at the sound of Stefan's voice. I had missed him so much. But I watched him die, how was he here now?

"We need to talk," I said, addressing both boys.

"That's an understatement," Ben muttered.

"Come over to the Boarding House later. We'll talk there so we don't attract any unwanted attention," Stefan was looking around as he talked to us.

"Sounds like a plan." I was ecstatic.

Stefan made his way to the door, but I called out his name and he turned back to my brother and me.

"I've missed you," I told him sincerely. Ben was nodding beside me.

Stefan gave me a smile before saying, "I've missed you to Abri, and you Ben."

"See ya, Stef," Ben called.

Stefan gave us a small wave before disappearing into the crowded hallway that was a sea of Mystic Falls students. Ben and I followed shortly after and parted ways. I had pre-Calculus next, and I couldn't imagine getting through the entire school day after learning that my once upon a time "little brother" was alive. That left just one question: what had happened to Damon after I took my brother and ran away from Mystic Falls that horrible night in 1864?

It wasn't until the lunch break that I caught up with Ben again. We didn't have any classes together apart from history until after lunch, which is when we had AP English. I found him sitting under a tree on the front lawn of the school. His back was against the bark of the tree trunk and he had a blank expression on his face as he stared off into empty space.

"Hey," I said as I walked up to up to him as sat down, nudging him to the side in the process.

"Sabi, what's going on? I thought we left our past behind in 1864," Ben lowered his voice towards the end.

"I don't know," I huffed, "but we have to act normal. No one can know what's going on if we want to stay in Mystic Falls."

"And go where? Listen to yourself, Benji! I'm just starting to feel normal again, we can't just run away!" I whispered to him in hysterics.

"Calm down! It was just a thought," he replied, getting a little defensive.

Just then I noticed Elena, Bonnie and Caroline walking up to us. Caroline was all smiles, Bonnie looked a little apprehensive, and Elena was wearing that look she got when she wanted answers.

"Hey guys!" Caroline squealed, "I heard about what you guys did in Mr. Tanner's class. _G_eniu_s_. The fake choking was a _little_ much, but it's the first day back, so why not ham it up a little, right?" I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Typical teenagers, always thinking attention is the motive for everything. But I could work with that for now.

"Oh, yeah! I know, but I figured being obnoxious was the best way to deal with The Tan Man. Is it really all over the school now?" I asked the three girls; I was curious as to what everyone thought.

"Uh huh. You too, Ben! Apparently all the teachers think Bina rubbed off on you," Caroline laughed a little at that and I couldn't help but join in.

"Perfect. I'm gotta give you some credit for that one, Sabs," Ben shot me a genuine grin. He was having just as much fun as I was.

"I left something in my locker," Bonnie said suddenly, "I think I'll go get it."

"I'll come with," chirped Caroline. That left Elena, Ben, and me alone.

"You were whispering when we came over," Elena informed us.

"Were we? I hadn't noticed," Ben said innocently.

"What were you talking about?" She shot back, unfazed by his calm demeanor.

"Come now, Elena. Don't you think it's a tiny bit unfair that you get to ask all the questions, here?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?"

"Bonnie has been acting really weird around us since we came back. What's that all about?" I inquired. I already knew the answer: she's a descendant of Emily Bennett, so she probably gets a weird vibe from us. I'm almost positive she's a witch like her ancestor.

"She's keeps going on about how her Grams talks about witches and magic constantly. I think it's starting to get to her," Elena shrugged my accusation off. Elena sat down in front of us then looked over at Ben and asked, "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure," Ben got up and started looking around until he found who he was looking for, "Tyler! Hey, man, wait up!" Ben jogged over to Tyler.

"Yes?" I turned back to Elena.

"Why were you staring at the new guy during first period?"

"You noticed that, huh?" I was a little embarrassed.

She just nodded; probably satisfied that she was slowly breaking me down.

"He just looked like someone I used to know. I thought it was him at first glance," I said, brushing it off as if it were nothing extremely shocking and important.

"Like an old boyfriend, maybe?" Elena asked with a smug smile firmly in place on her lips.

"Elena!" I chastised.

"You _have_ to admit: he's pretty good-looking." A blush was creeping up her cheeks at the statement.

"Does Elena have a _crush_?" I questioned, feigning shock. Truthfully, Stefan had always been very attractive; all of the Salvatores were.

Elena tactfully ignored me and stood up, holding out a hand to help me up too.

"Come on, I'm starving," she said, leading me toward the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Ben and I stood on the front step of the Salvatore Boarding house waiting for someone to answer the door. The house was beautiful; it was painted a soft brown and its architecture had a very angular theme to it. The woods surrounding the mansion provided privacy as well as the feeling of being at a small cabin in the middle of a forest instead of in a bustling town in Virginia.<p>

I had changed outfits again because I planned to go hunting tonight. In order to attract my meals, I had to wear just the right combo. I settled for some black denim shorts, a turquoise blouse with a high collar, and some plain black flats. I topped my head with a black hat, wore some hoops and a silver bracelet, and finished the look with a black shoulder bag.

The door was opened by a man who I recognized as Zach Salvatore.

"Can I help you?" Zach asked, careful not to step outside the threshold.

"Zach Salvatore? Ben and Sabrina Corelli. We're here to see Stefan," Ben said politely, trying to win Zach over with his charm.

"Um, one second," Zach said suspiciously, turning to retrieve Stefan as there was no way he was going to invite two strangers into him home.

"Zach, invite them in. They won't hurt anyone," I heard Stefan say from somewhere inside the house. Zach looked weary as he faced us again and stepped aside.

"Come in," he said.

"Thank you," I told him with a smile as Ben and I stepped into the house.

The inside of the house was just as nice as the outside. There was a big fire place, several antique pieces of furniture, and books everywhere. We found Stefan in the den, staring into the fire.

"I'm surprised you trust us enough to let us in," I said, walking closer to Stefan.

"You're good people; I don't think you've changed." He turned around then, giving us a sad smile.

"As much fun as I'm having, I think we've had enough of the casual conversation," Ben remarked.

"Where do we start?" I asked.

"How are you alive? We watched as your father shot down both you and your brother," Ben stated.

"We had Katherine's blood in our systems. You knew that, didn't you?" Stefan sounded confused, which was exactly how I was feeling.

"Emily Bennett told us you had both died for good," I informed him.

"You were with Emily?"

I recalled the memory and told him:

_It was September 25, 1864, and the town was in chaos, looking for any rogue vampires. Katherine had been caught, and they were taking her away to the church to be burned with the others. What a glorious day! The only problem was that I couldn't find Damon of Stefan. As I ran through the woods looking for them, I heard voices in the distance. It was dark under the cover of the trees and I could barely see. I slowed down as I drew nearer to the voices. It sounded like men. It was the Salvatore brothers! But what's this? They were standing by one of the vampire-filled carriages. I watched helplessly as they took Katherine out of the wagon and placed her on the ground. They were untying the ropes as I heard something behind me in the woods. I quickly turned around as he stepped into the moon light._

"_Benji! Oh, you frightened me!" I whispered to him._

"_My apologies, now what is going on?"_

"_Damon and Stefan are setting Katherine free." Just as I said it I heard a gunshot. I whirled around in time to see Damon fall to the ground, blood slowing seeping through his shirt._

"_No!" But my voice was unheard because of the shot that was fired next. Now Stefan fell to the ground._

"_Come on!" Benjamin pulled at my arm but I would not leave the boys I had come to know as my dearest companions._

_The footsteps of the horrible men who had shot my best friends were coming closer. Benjamin hooked his arm under my knees as I fell to the ground; surely I was going to fall unconscious at any moment. As he picked me up I could not help but look back. Katherine was back in the carriage and being pulled away; she looked right at me with sad eyes and mouthed "They're gone forever." And that was when I fainted._

_I woke up on the ground some time later that night. I turned my head to see Benjamin sprawled on his back with a man hunched over him. What was going on? I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry to get any words out. I looked over at Benjamin again. There was blood dripping down from his neck. It was then that I realized that the man above him was a vampire, draining the life from Benjamin as I lay on the floor, unable to do anything. I tried to move, and the vampire lifted his head from my brother and looked at me. When he saw that I was conscious, he came over and bit down on my neck. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I eyelids were heavy, and I knew that I was going to die._

_A bright light blinded me when I opened my eyes again. I must be in Heaven. But why was Heaven in the middle of the forest? I looked around and saw Ben lying unconscious on the ground next to me. He looked almost… dead._

"_I see you are finally awake," I heard a voice say. It sounded familiar._

_I sat up and saw Emily Bennett standing under the cover some trees._

"_Where am I?" I asked frantically._

"_In the woods just south of town," she said, "you and your brother in transition."_

_I looked down at myself. I was fully healed of any evidence of a struggle or attack. I was also wearing a ring with blue stone. When I looked over at Benjamin and saw that he was wearing a similar looking ring._

"_Katherine had me make those for you weeks ago," Emily said, a tad nastily._

"_Is Katherine…?" I didn't want to finish the sentence._

"_She was brought to the church, yes. After the Salvatores were killed, they carried her away." Her eyes were downcast._

"_Are they transitioning too?" I asked hopefully._

_Emily just looked at me, not saying a word. I prayed she did not mean to tell me that my two best friends were gone as Katherine had said earlier._

"_Emily! Answer me!"_

"_You have your brother, is that not enough?" With that she strode away. I would have followed after her, but the fear of leaving Benjamin behind and not being able to find him again stopped me in my tracks._

"_Emily! Come back!" I called after her retreating form._

"_Sabrina?" Benjamin's shaky voice sounded in the still air. At the noise I broke down and wept._

"And that's it?" Stefan sounded almost astonished.

"And that's it," I responded.

"If you're wondering why we never actually checked to see if you really _were_ dead, the answer is quite simple: Sister Dearest over here was too much of a coward to face what had happened." I glared at Ben, so he continued, "I suppose I didn't want to deal with it either."

"I still don't, so don't go telling your brother any of this. As far as he's concerned: we're dead and gone. Long gone." I'm not sure I could face Damon after everything that happened with Katherine. She ruined all of our lives. Damon and I had a whole life ahead of us. We loved each other. But there's the key word: _loved_, past tense.

"I haven't seen Damon in fifteen years," Stefan informed us.

"Let's hope it stays that way," I grumbled. I heard my phone chime in my purse and pulled it out. I had a message from Elena.

_Meeting Bonnie the Grill. U in?_ it said. I hit reply.

_C u there. _Send.

"Benji, we gotta go." I showed him the short conversation.

"Alright. You going to school tomorrow, Stef?" Ben went over to Stefan and gave with one of those 'guy handshake-hug' things. I gave big a normal hug.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

We exchanged phone numbers quickly because Ben and I were in a hurry.

"Awesome. We'll see you later, then," I called on our way out to door, "nice meeting you, Zach!"

"You too. Try to stay out trouble for the townsake," Zach pleaded.

"Will do," was Ben's reply.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later Ben and I were walking into The Mystic Grill. There was an old Katy Perry song playing in the large establishment. I spotted Bonnie and Matt sitting at a table in deep conversation while Tyler and Caroline stood by the pool table. I nudged Ben and tilted my head in their direction, letting him know where I was headed. He nodded went over to Matt and Bonnie.<p>

Both of their faces visibly brightened as I approached them.

"Hey Ty, Caroline. What's going on?" They were two of my best human friends.

"Bina! How's it going with you?" Tyler asked me, putting an arm over my shoulder. When we were dating it was always around me in some way, and the habit hadn't broken when we had.

"Oh, you know. Same old drama, lightened by some good old troublemaking."

He laughed, "That's my Bina."

"Oh my god. Look who just walked in," Caroline was staring behind me.

I whirled around. Since I was expecting to see one of the most recent objects of Caroline's affection, I wasn't surprised when it was Stefan by the door. What did shock me was that he wasn't alone. Elena stood by his side.

"What the-" I was interrupted by Ben, who was suddenly in front of me.

He gave me a meaningful look, probably to act natural. "Would you look at that? I think Mystic Falls have a new power couple." I snorted at his phrasing, but became serious again when I looked over the situation. Matt was introducing himself, a sour expression on his face.

"My money's on Matt," Tyler was whispering to Caroline.

"Tyler!" I smacked him on the arm.

"Oh come on! What did I do?" I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed Caroline.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To socialize, of course," I gave her a smile and then turned to my brother, "Take care of Matt, will you?"

Ben nodded and started toward Matt, who was walking away from Stefan and Elena.

I later found myself sitting at a table with Stefan, Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, and Ben. Stefan was being bombarded with questions and to be frank, I was curious as to how he was going to answer them.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls? Caroline asked Stefan.

"Mm-hmm, and moved when I was still young."

Bonnie then asked, "Parents?"

"My parents passed away." He looked at Elena after he said it. Subtle, Stefan.

Elena looked apathetic when she said, "I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Seriously, Elena? Did you have to bring _that_ up of all things?

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle." Good answer.

"Lucky you, siblings are annoying little things," Ben said, tilting his in my direction.

"Oh shut up, Benji! No one cares what you think, anyway," I retorted.

Elena gave a small chuckle at our behavior and I saw a little twinkle in Stefan's eye as he smiled politely. I'm sure he was remembering the good times we used to have.

Caroline looked like she suddenly got an idea. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."

"It's a back to school thing at the falls," Bonnie informed him.

"Really fun. I love it," I said.

Stefan turned to Elena and asked her, "Are you going?"

"Of course she is," Bonnie chimed in. So Bonnie wants them to hook up? She must not sense anything strange about him like she does with us.

As everyone was leaving later that night, I pulled Bonnie aside. I wanted to confront her head on about her issue with my brother and me.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Okay, so why are you acting all weird around me and my brother all of the sudden? Elena said it has something to do with your Grams?" I jumped straight in, no beating around the bush. That's a human thing.

Bonnie looked guilty. "I'm sorry. It was just the other day, when I hugged you? I got this really weird jolt of danger or something. It was like every part of me was telling me to stay away. It was freaky, but I think it was just my Grams starting to get into my head. Your one of my best friends, I could never stay away from you and Ben. Wow, that sounded really 'Twilight', didn't? I think Caroline is starting to rub off on me," she gave me her monologue with a smile plastered on her face. She then embraced me.

"Ready?" Ben asked me as he walked up to us. He had been listening in, so he knew that everything was back to normal.

"Uh huh," I answered while shrugging on my jacket and grabbing my purse. Ben and I were about to head to a bar about 60 miles north of Mystic Falls, so we had to move fast if we wanted to get home without anyone worrying too much.

After saying good-bye to Bonnie, we started our drive to the bar for a quick dinner. Normally we just drink out of blood bags from blood banks, but since we've been staying with the Gilberts, there's no place to keep them safely. Ben and I try not to kill anyone we feed from, but accidents happen. Luckily years of experience have granted us with the knowledge of how to clean up after ourselves.

* * *

><p>We arrived at the bar, stepped inside, and split up. Ben and I are physically twenty-one, so technically we can legally be in bars even though right now we're posing as seventeen year olds. I scanned the dark room looking for my next victim. I found a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was alone and looked like he was already drunk. Perfect. I started my human act as I sat down on the barstool next to him and faced him slightly. He did a double take when he noticed me.<p>

"Hey, I'm Sabrina," I said with my voice raspy. I heard the man's heart rate pick up and he gulped.

"Greg. Can I buy you a drink?" He replied and signaled the bartender over.

"How about 'a southern screw'?" I suggested, glancing at the bartender.

Greg swallowed again and nodded at the bartender. A quick glance to Ben told me that his night was going just as well with a red-headed girl in the corner. Greg then looked back at me, giving me a once over. He must have liked what he saw because his heart was beating like a hummingbird's wings at this point. I smiled coyly.

"So Greg, what's a man like you doing all alone in a place like this?" I asked him, widening my eyes and batting my long lashes.

"Oh, um, just came in for a drink and some company after a hard –uh, difficult- day at work." Greg fidgeted in his seat and I smirked. I was getting to him.

"How about we go out back? I'm sure it's much quieter out there, and we can be alone…"

"Um okay. Yeah, yeah let's do that." Hook, line, and sinker. I led him outside and into a dark alleyway. I could hear my brother somewhere in the distance.

As soon as we were in the cover of night, I pushed Greg against a wall and my fangs came out along with the rest of my vampire features.

"What's going on?" Greg was getting nervous.

"You will not be afraid. You will be silent and relaxed," I said using compulsion.

"I will not be afraid. I will be silent and relaxed," he repeated.

"Good." I sunk my teeth into the side of his neck and drank deeply. His blood tasted like liquor and cigarette smoke.

When I had taken my fill without killing him, I pulled back. Greg's heart was slowing down.

"You will forget this happened. Go home and don't talk to anyone on the way. If anyone asks what happened, you were in your kitchen and slipped on some water." Without another word, he turned and left.

I walked to the car and found Ben leaning against it waiting for me. He unlocked the doors and we got in, ready to continue our act as small town humans leading ordinary lives.

It was as we were driving that I heard my phone ringing. Digging it out of my purse, I saw that it was Stefan. Now what would he want this late at night? I pushed answer and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I answered a bit of my curiosity coming through into my voice.

"Sabrina?" I heard Stefan's voice.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?" I sneaked a glance at Ben and he shrugged.

"There have been some attacks around town."

"And?"

"Was it the two of you? Zach's really worried and he thinks it was me."

"Stef, we've lived in Mystic Falls for over a year now. We know how to keep the media out of our lives. We don't hunt in town. In fact, we're driving back from a meal right now," I explained to him.

"Just… be careful, okay? With all three of us here, we can't risk exposure," Stefan said in an anxious voice.

"Sure thing, Stef. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright. See you tomorrow." He hung up.

"How strange," I said to Ben.

"Tell me about it. Are you sure it's just the three of us in town?" Ben said.

"I thought so…" I replied, "But now I'm not so sure."

* * *

><p>The next day I sat in Mr. Tanner's class speculating what could be going on in the town. Maybe some vampires were just passing through town. Whatever the case, I like Mystic Falls and no rogue vampires are going to get me kicked out. I put lighter thoughts on my mind, such as my outfit choice. Today I chose grey jeans and a black and white polka dot tank top under a burnt orange shirt; orange, strapped heels accompanied with black circular studs, necklace, and headband completed my attire.<p>

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," said Tanner in an extremely annoying voice. I was ready to defend Elena at any cost, but it turns out I didn't have to.

"There were 346 casualties, unless you're counting the local civilians." I looked over to see Stefan coming to Elena's rescue. It would be so cute if their relationship didn't remind me of Katherine.

"That's correct, Mister…"

"Salvatore," Stefan responded.

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?" Tanner asked with a slight interest.

"Distant," Stefan said. I started snickering, so I both tried and failed to cover it up as a cough. Mr. Tanner sent me a weird look, as did most of the class.

Tanner turned back to Stefan. "Well very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." He went to write something on the board when Stefan corrected what he had said.

"Actually, there were twenty-seven, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founders' archives are, uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."

"A night of great loss, yeah, okay," I whispered so that only a vampire could hear me. I then continued at a normal volume, "Well, Benji, it looks like we're going to have to fight if we want to stay at the top of The Tan Man's list of students he hates."

"Then this year is going to be a lot of fun, wouldn't you say?" Ben drawled.

"I can't wait," I said, sending the sweetest smile I could manage at Mr. Tanner.

* * *

><p>I stood in front of the mirror making last minute changes to my wardrobe choice of the evening. Since we were going to a bonfire party, I changed into a white tank top under a grey sweater and grey flats. I also took off my necklace and hair band, letting my hair flow naturally.<p>

"You look great," Elena said from behind me.

I laughed. "Thanks, Elena."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything. You're like my sister. I'm always here for you," I told her honestly.

"You know Stefan?" I think I know where she's going with this. I nodded in response. "Bonnie says I should just go for it, and I feel like it's too soon and-"

I cut her off, "Elena, I can't tell you what to do. Do what feels right. Maybe you need some time alone or maybe you need someone new in your life. Just be careful with whatever you choose, alright?" I love Stefan and I know he's a good guy, but with the whole Katherine thing, I don't know if Elena should be getting involved in this mess. Plus the whole vampire thing. Ben and I are already two too many vampires in her life and she doesn't need any more. But am I going to tell her any of this? No way.

"Thanks anyway," she said before giving me a hug.

"Now come on, let's go party!" I exclaimed before heading out of my bedroom door.

I saw Ben standing on a small bridge with Bonnie and Matt a little while into the party.

"Spying on Elena and Stefan?" I asked walking over.

"You know it," Ben answered with a chuckle.

"So what're they talking about?" I whispered to Ben.

"How Grayson and Miranda died. Bonnie. Matt. I think we're next," Ben informed me. I decided to listen in.

"Ben and Sabrina?" I heard Stefan ask.

"They're orphans too. My Aunt Jenna adopted them about a year ago. There isn't much to their background, but they're the greatest friends and cousins a person could have. We've been really close since we all moved in together," Elena said.

"How sweet," I said to Ben.

"Where's he running off to?" Ben asked. I looked back to see Stefan walking away from Elena. She looked confused.

I found Caroline later that night, thoroughly drunk.

"Hey Caroline," I said cautiously.

"Bina! What's up? Hook up with any hot guys? Because I know I didn't!"

"Okay Caroline, let's just calm down. What's wrong?" I was worried about her.

"He completely brushed me off! And for Elena, as usual. What's wrong with me? More like what's right with me?" Caroline sobbed and I embraced her, slowly rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her. I guess Stefan turned her down for good.

"Somebody help!" I heard Elena yell. I saw Jeremy carrying Vicki Donovan out of the forest. Oh no, another vampire attack? I quickly found Ben and held onto his arm.

"What are we going to do?" I asked him frantically.

"I don't know, Sabi. I don't know."

I glanced over the crowd of teenagers and locked eyes with Stefan. I nodded my head for him to get out of here. Looking back at Vicki, things didn't look good. Someone was on the phone with the police.

"Let's find Elena," I told Ben as we stood watching the EMT's load Vicki into the back of an ambulance.

Elena was talking to Bonnie when we found her. I just caught the tail end of their conversation, but it sounded like Bonnie was getting some more weird feelings about the vampires. We approached as Bonnie was walking away.

"I'm taking Jeremy home," she told us.

"We'll meet you there," I responded.

Ben and I walked to the car and climbed in, staying silent the entire time. There was just too much to think about. Too much going on in such a small town. But I have a feeling that like I heard Bonnie say, this is only the beginning.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews make me smile, but no pressure :) Thanks to those of you who have reviewed and/or alerted! You know who you are. Haha, mysteriousness...**


	3. Dinner and Meeting

**A/N: So without further ado: the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Sabs and Benji.  
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Dinner and Meeting

The next morning I was walking along the upstairs hallway of the Gilbert house. I had chosen to wear light colored skinny jeans and a peacock printed tank top for my third day of junior year. My pumps were a teal color and for jewelry I wore peacock feather earrings and a black wrap-around style bracelet. I ran into Jenna outside of Elena's bedroom.

"Morning, Jenna," I greeted her in a chipper voice.

"Sabrina, what do you think?" she asked me while twirling around.

"Occasion?"

"A parent-teacher conference for Jeremy."

"Ooh! Which teacher?" I asked her. Please say Tanner. Please say Tanner. Please say Tanner.

"Mr. Tanner, I think," Jenna answered slowly.

"Yes! Okay, first thing: call him The Tan Man, next-"

"Trying to get Jenna in trouble?" Ben walked down the hall and cut me off.

"No, I was just giving her some tips," I stated in the most innocent sounding voice I could muster.

"Sure, Sabs. Whatever you say." He continued moving toward the staircase.

"Okay, I'll talk to you guys later. I'm late," Jenna said as she scurried past Ben and down the stairs.

"See you tonight!" I yelled after her.

"Bye, Jenna. Good luck!" Ben called down the stairs.

"Want to actually be on time today?" I asked Ben.

He seemed to contemplate the idea for a second. When he finally decided, he locked eyes with me.

"Nope," we said simultaneously before laughing and heading to the kitchen for some coffee.

"So how are we handling this 'animal attack' problem?" I wondered absentmindedly. Ben just looked over at me as he poured two mugs of coffee.

"The way I see it: if we don't get involved, our lives stay trouble-free." He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"But we can't just ignore it," I said desperately, my voice getting more high-pitched.

"Why not?" Ben was really starting to get on my nerves and it wasn't even noon yet.

"Because this is happening in our town. Something's bound to spiral out of control if we don't solve the problem."

"Okay, well how about _you_ do the solving and _I_ will continue on as usual."

"You know what? I don't need you anyway. I'll see you around, I have a class to get to." With that I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the house.

I took the car, so Ben would just have to find some other way to get to school.

By the time I walked into Mr. Tanner's class I was only about 10 minutes late. I was still pretty pissed off at Ben, and I didn't bother trying to hide it as I barged into the classroom and practically slammed the door behind me.

"Will your brother be joining us any time soon, Miss Corelli?" Mr. Tanner asked in a sarcastic voice. I decided to answer him anyway.

"The hell if I care." I then continued to slump down in my seat and grumble to myself. Tanner ignored me and continued on with what he was staying.

"Originally discovered nearly 5 centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over 145 years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration." Mr. Tanner droned on about the comet passing. I saw it when I was human, I don't need to see it again. A big ball hurdling through space, how _cool_.

I looked around the room and noticed Stefan and Elena were flirting silently. A couple smiles here, a little eyelash batting there. I rolled my eyes. Looks like Mystic Falls just has a thing for history repeating itself. At least there's no love triangle this time. I don't think I could stand another one of those.

"Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Miss Gilbert?" Tanner said snootily. I gave a small chuckle. Serves them right for all their eye-ogling in public.

The day passed slowly and I caught a glimpse of Ben once or twice, but I ignored him; I guess he found a way to school. I eventually caught up with Bonnie and Caroline in one of the halls.

"Hey girls." I started walking in stride next to them. "What are we talking about?"

"My supernatural abilities," Bonnie informed me jokingly. At this my interest peaked. Has Bonnie _finally_ discovered her witchy powers?

"I'm confused. Are you physic or clairvoyant?" Caroline asked.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something… Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kind of tuned out. Crazy family: yes. Witches? I don't think so." Bonnie explained. That was Sheila for you, always giving out information at the wrong times.

"Yeah, well feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Caroline moaned. Guy? What guy? Now this I had to hear about. I miss feeling like an ordinary teenager. With all the Stefan stuff happening, I needed a distraction.

"I didn't see him. You did." Bonnie turned her head to look at a passerby. "Why didn't you just talk to him?"

"I don't know; I was drunk." Caroline smiled wryly and Bonnie giggled.

"Wait a second. Who is this mysterious guy you two are talking about?" I asked them, prying for more gossip.

"Gorgeous. Dark-haired. Leather jacket. He was at the Grill the night Vicki was attacked. I saw him sitting a couple of tables away." Caroline said dreamily.

"Ah. Okay. But it's such a small town. You're bound to see him again," I told her encouragingly.

"I hope so. He was _hot_." At that last comment we all burst into giggles, much like Bonnie had done earlier.

Later that afternoon I was sitting with Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena outside of a café. Bonnie was telling us all about the comet.

"Well I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." That's an understatement.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens," Caroline said to Bonnie, and turned to Elena, "So then what?" Ugh, back to the budding relationship of Stefan and Elena. I have nothing against the two of them together, but with Stefan's past with women, I don't want to see Elena get hurt… even if she _is_ a spitting image of Katherine.

"So then nothing," Elena replied.

"You and Stefan talked. All night. There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?" Caroline asked incredulously. It _was_ kind of hard to believe.

"Nope. We didn't go there."

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline was desperate for any juicy detail she could get her hands on. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends," she said and gestured to herself, Bonnie, and me. "Okay, you are supposed to share the smut." I snorted in a very not lady-like kind of way. Caroline's crude comments always put a smile on my face.

"We just talked for hours," Elena said, defending herself.

"Okay what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy: boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex." Caroline raised her eyebrows suggestively. I smiled and shook my head in disbelief.

"Profound," was all Elena responded with, though she seemed to mull the thought over. She then proceeded to gather up her stuff.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked.

"Caroline's right. It is easy." She stood up. "If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it, instead doing what I started the day saying I was gonna do." Elena strode away from the table as if she was on an important mission.

"You, on the other hand, have been uncharacteristically quiet. Why?" Caroline questioned me, leaning forward and resting her head on her hands.

I sighed. "I just don't know about this. Maybe Elena should just take it slow."

"Jealous? Did you see Stefan first?" Caroline had that look in her eye. She thought she was onto something good.

"No! But if Elena jumps right into things with a new guy, people might start to talk. I'm just looking out for her. Besides, does anyone really know anything about Stefan? What if the reason all they did was talk is because he isn't even _interested_ in girls? Or what if he has a really bad credit score? Maybe he's afraid of water! For all we know, he could be a serial killer…" I trailed off, unable to think of any logical excuse for Elena to stay away from Stefan that was appropriate for unsuspecting human ears to hear.

"Bina, you're being ridiculous," Bonnie told me.

"Just wait until you wake up in the middle of the night to find all of your goldfish murdered," I mumbled.

"I don't own any goldfish." Bonnie started laughing, and unable to control myself, I joined in too. Maybe I _was_ overreacting. Stefan is one of the greatest guys I know, and without Damon in town, Elena could have a wonderful and healthy relationship with the younger Salvatore brother.

* * *

><p>"He's on the rebound and has <em>raging<em> family issues," Elena was telling Jenna as I walked into the house that evening.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait until you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues," Jenna consoled her. Elena seemed to give it some thought before shrugging in agreement.

The door opened behind me and I scooted out of the way and into the kitchen to make room for Jeremy. He tried sneaking up the stairs, but Jenna caught him.

"Jeremy! Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna followed after him.

I turned to Elena. "So, who has these _raging_ family issues?"

"Stefan. I was over at his house earlier. He wasn't there, but his brother was-"

"Wait, what brother?" I asked her urgently. It couldn't be. He wasn't here in Mystic Falls… Not after all these years.

"I think he said his name was Damon, why?" Elena tilted her head to the side. "Is something wrong?"

"Is Ben home? I need to talk to him."

"He's upstairs. But wait, what's going on?"

"Nice talking to you, Elena," I said as I brushed past her and up the stairs, ignoring her calls for me to come back.

I barged into Ben's room, not bothering to knock. My eyes were wide and I was visibly shaking.

"Sabrina! What's wrong?" Ben was now alert. He got up from the chair he was sitting in and came over to me. Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he used the other one to close the door behind us as he led me to sit on his bed.

"He's here" was all I managed to get out.

"_Who's_ here?" Ben had no idea what I was talking about.

"_Him_!" I all but screamed.

"Sabrina, I need you to take some deep breaths, okay? Ready? In, out, in, out. Good, just like that. Now answer my question with a complete sentence. What is the matter?" Ben was trying to calm me down and it was working only a little bit.

"Damon Salvatore is in Mystic Falls."

Ben's eyes widened slightly. "How do you know? Did you see him?"

"Elena went over to the boarding house. She said Damon was there."

"But wouldn't Stefan have told us?" Ben didn't want to believe this anymore than I did. He knew I couldn't deal with seeing Damon, not yet.

"Not if Damon only just got here," I said. I got up off the bed and started pacing the room. "What are we supposed to do? I can't do this. You were right all along. Let's just leave town."

"Hold on, Sabi. You know I never wanted to leave."

"Well now I do. So let's go." I started for the door.

"Just calm down. There's nothing to worry about-"

I turned back to Ben. "Nothing to worry about! Do you hear yourself?"

"All we have to do is avoid him. No town functions. Stay in at night. Easy, right?" Ben was on to something.

"Avoid him…" I said to myself.

"Avoid him," Ben repeated.

"Okay… I can do that. How hard could it possibly be?" I was starting to like the sound of it.

"Not hard at all. Now, come on, let's go downstairs before Elena thinks you've gone crazy." Ben grinned at me. Everything will be okay. There's nothing to worry about. But as many times as I tried to reassure myself, doubt was always looming in the distance waiting to consume me.

That night as I lay in bed I pondered everything that had been going through my head the past few days. On Monday I found out that my two best friends from my human life had become vampires back in 1864. Since then I've seen one and been told that both of them are in Mystic Falls once again. I'm really happy about Stefan; he's the little brother I never had.

Damon on the other hand…. We were always just friends, best friends at that. Then one day I found that I wanted more, and Damon's flirty personality wasn't exactly discouraging. He would return home from the Confederacy with Ben and we would steal a kiss here and there. I thought we had a future, but I guess to him I was just another girl to keep him entertained.

In spring of 1864, my grandmother died. Ben and I hadn't seen her in years, but we had to travel to North Carolina to settle her estate and property. I left Damon with a promise that I would come back to him as soon as I could. That was the last time I saw him before Katherine came to town.

By the time Ben and I arrived back in Mystic Falls, Katherine had her claws sunk so deep into my boys that it was hopeless to try to get them back. Ben told me to get to know Katherine and be her friend. Though reluctant, I did as he asked. Katherine acted like a friend and we spent time together. I was foolish enough to think that it might be real. We shared secrets too. I told her how much I missed Damon, and she told me what she was. I looked at what she had with the Salvatores and asked myself how horrible she could be if she had the trust of them both. Katherine confided in me her plans to turn both Stefan and Damon, and she offered me an eternity with Damon while she took Stefan. He was the one she claimed to love.

My stupidity was what brought me to agree to the idea, and she said that she would turn my brother as well. As time went on I began to see her for the monster she was, but at that point it was too late. She fed Ben and me her blood on a regular basis with minimal compelling. On September 25, 1864, we all died… or so I thought.

* * *

><p>Thursday passed by in a breeze of actual behavior at school and excuses to not watch the comet. I wouldn't risk stepping out the house more than necessary, especially not at night. It wasn't until Friday morning at school that reality set in.<p>

The day started as usual, though I chose clothing that wouldn't draw too much attention: just some boyfriend jeans, blue top and flats, and a blue necklace and blue earrings with a black leather jacket over all of it. My plan of avoidance was going pretty well until Stefan showed up in my room.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I asked him tartly.

"I'm sorry, but this is important," he answered unfazed by my attitude.

"Sabs, almost ready? Oh… hi Stefan," Ben said awkwardly as he walked in the room and closed the door behind him.

"So it's a party now? Whatever. Stefan?" I snapped.

"Uh… you may have heard my brother is in town." I scoffed in annoyance. "Anyway, he was the one that attacked Vicki, so staying away may be a good idea for a while," Stefan told Ben and me.

"Great. Is that all?" I asked sarcastically.

Stefan just nodded and looked at Ben.

"Okay well good-bye then." I walked out of my room and down the stairs to the front door. "Coming, Ben?" I yelled up the stairs. He was behind me in an instant and we went out to the car.

When we parked in front of the high school I said my farewells to Ben and walked over to where Elena and Bonnie were standing. I hadn't been able to get a hold of Caroline this morning, but I wasn't worried. Caroline was known for ditching school to sleep in with whatever guy she managed to snag the night before.

I caught the tail end of their conversation.

"…And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that," Elena was telling Bonnie.

"Honestly Elena, maybe you should just take it slow with him," I said as I walked up to them.

"You too?" Elena asked.

"Huh?"

"Bonnie just said the same thing," she explained.

"And if Bina backs me up on it, I must be right," Bonnie said. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. And you, Sabrina." Speak of the devil. Stefan had a smile on his face when he greeted us. If only I had a way to get out of _this_ conversation.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later," Bonnie said before starting to walk away. I'll take what I can get.

"I've actually been really worried about her," I lied. "I'll come with you."

"Guys, wait!" Elena called as I jogged to catch up with Bonnie.

"So why don't you want them together anymore?" I asked Bonnie once we were a safe distance away from the couple.

"I think you were right, Bina. My hand brushed Stefan's and it's like I got some really bad vibe from him." I nodded in agreement once again.

"Trust your instinct is what I would do." We are vampires after all.

"Yeah, but hey, have you seen Caroline? I know you just wanted to get away from them too," Bonnie said, grinning.

"No. I'm not very worried, though. She's always doing stuff like this. Probably hooked up with some guy last night," I said lightly.

"Maybe she finally found that guy from the Grill," Bonnie suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I swear she has some sort of radar or something."

Bonnie laughed and I joined in, finally feeling a little better about life in Mystic Falls. After all, what are the chances of seeing Damon long enough for him to recognize me anyway?

History that day was actually pretty amusing. Stefan totally showed up Tanner with his ultimate knowledge of dates. I mean, I was actually around when most of that stuff happened and I barely knew what year the Battle of Gettysburg was. I was going to have to come up with some new material if there was any chance of staying Mr. Tanner's worst nightmare. As usual, that was the only notable class of the day.

School ended relatively quickly and I found myself debating whether or not to do cheerleading again this year. After discussing it with Ben, I decided to go to practice today before making a final decision. Ben was pretty sure he wanted to keep playing football. "All the better to blend in," he had said when I asked him why. I think he likes it though. Matt and Tyler are a fun part of football too if you manage to stay on their good sides.

"Hello, Bonnie, Elena," I greeted cheerily as I arrived at the location of cheerleading practice.

"Bina, I was just telling Bonnie about how we're having dinner tonight," Elena informed me.

"Dinner?" I asked.

"Uh huh. With _Stefan_," Bonnie tried warning me. I caught on.

"Oh man! I actually had plans with Ben-"

"Great! He can join us." Elena was not letting me out of this one.

"Alright, I guess. I do _live_ there," I grumbled.

"Perfect! You'll both love him," Elena enthused. I just know I'm going to regret this.

"Seriously, where is Caroline?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know. It's not like her. Try her again," Elena suggested as she took a sip of water. Bonnie pulled out her phone and started pressing some buttons.

"Uh…" Elena pointed behind Bonnie and me. I heard a car driving up. It must be Caroline. I didn't bother looking up as I was in the middle of a stretch, not that I needed it.

"Oh my god…. That must be the mystery guy from the Grill," Bonnie mused. This I had to see. I was about to turn around when Elena returned the comment.

"That's not a mystery guy. That's Damon Salvatore," Elena said. I froze. I was vaguely aware that Bonnie was talking as she and Elena stood up. I couldn't move. Damon freaking Salvatore was behind me.

I pretended to tie my shoe while I listened to the conversation going on behind me.

"I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind," Caroline was saying to Elena. At that I shot up from the ground and ran at the fastest human pace I could on my way to find Ben.

"Sabrina!" I heard my name called, but I didn't turn back. I reached the football field and waved Ben over.

"Give up already?" Ben chuckled as he jogged up to me.

"Caroline… boyfriend… brother-" I rambled until Ben interrupted me.

"Hold on! Complete sentences only."

"Caroline's new boyfriend just dropped her off!" I practically yelled.

"And who _is_ this boyfriend?" Ben was trying to make sense of what I was telling him.

"Damon," I whispered. Ben quickly ushered me from the field toward the car. He was stripping off his gear as we went, ignoring Mr. Tanner's angry yells for him to go back.

"Are you sure it was him?" Ben asked me.

"How many Damon Salvatore's could there be in one town?" I retorted.

"Okay, okay. Let's just get home," Ben said calmly. How he could be calm at a time like this baffled me.

After breaking a few traffic laws, we finally arrived in the safety of the Gilbert house. I told Ben about our dinner plans and he suggested we go hunting first. We had to settle for animals on such a short notice and headed out to the woods for a light meal.

Hunting animals wasn't _horrible_, but I prefer humans. Even blood bank contrabands were pretty tasty. At any rate, when Ben or I were on a tight schedule, we would run out to the forest and find something to subdue our eternal thirst. One thing I did hate about animal hunting was how dirty it always managed to get me. Even when I was extremely careful, it was hard to avoid the grime of the wilderness. Maybe I'm just a city girl not fit for country living.

On arrival back at the house, I immediately went to change my clothes. I wanted absolutely no evidence of activities Ben and I had just taken part in. I decided on something feminine and slightly nicer than just jeans, after all, we were entertaining in just a short while. I put on a light brown and cream lacy skirt and a cream colored tank top. Some matching flats and floral earrings and necklace were all I added on top of that. Just in case we were going out later, I grabbed a brown jacket.

I heard the doorbell ring and walked toward Ben's room to find him right outside his door. I looked at him for encouragement and he gave me a small smile. He stretched his arm and I started toward the stairs as he trailed behind me.

Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, Ben, and I were soon eating the dinner Elena had bought from some Italian restaurant. It was slightly awkward with Bonnie and me being cautious and quiet around Stefan. Elena and Ben didn't seem to have any problems, though.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?"Elena asked Stefan, successfully breaking the silence.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right," Stefan said modestly. Elena laughed.

"Considering the fact that he hates you almost as much as he does Sabrina and me, I'd say you're probably a force to be reckoned with. Wish I could've been there," Ben said in awe. Human or vampire, boys love their contact sports.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and-" Elena started.

"Yeah, I heard," Bonnie interrupted curtly. Elena glared at her.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested.

"Um… divorced. No mom. Live with my dad," Bonnie said in short. Pretty good summary, in my opinion.

"No… about the witches," Elena said quietly. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool," she said to Stefan.

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie muttered. I agree. Emily Bennett was a disgrace to witches everywhere. Why she helped Katherine, I'll never know.

"I think it's awesome - ouch!" I had stepped on Ben's foot under the table to keep him from continuing. Everyone gave him a strange look.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic Druids that migrated here in the 1800's," Stefan said to Bonnie.

"My family came by way of Salem."

"Really? Salem witches?" Shouldn't Stefan have already _known_ that? Maybe he's just a good actor.

"Yeah," Bonnie returned.

"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan said in agreement with Elena.

"See?" Ben said before I stopped him with a deathly glare.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked skeptically.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan told her. Please! If Emily Bennett were heroic, wouldn't she have stood up to Katherine? I had to calm myself down. It was over; I didn't need to think about them.

"Yeah, they are," Bonnie agreed. Uh oh, I think Stefan just won her over. Since I know the truth behind Stefan and can't tell anyone, it looks like I'm alone from here on out.

"Bina, you always thought Bonnie's witch ancestors were great," Elena tried bringing me into the conversation. Luckily the doorbell rang. Saved by the bell.

"I wonder who that could be," Elena mused as she got up to answer the door.

"Surprise! Bonnie told me you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," Caroline said from outside.

"Hope you don't mind." That voice was familiar. I shot a desperate look to Stefan, hoping I was wrong, as he left to go to the door. He looked back at me with an apologetic air before he disappeared around the corner.

"I have a lot of homework; I'm gonna go do it. Come on, Ben," I said and grabbed his arm.

"What are you talking about, Bina? There's no way you're doing your _homework_," Bonnie said to me. "And why did you run off today during practice? Are you avoiding Caroline or something?"

"Not Caroline," I mumbled.

"What?" Bonnie questioned.

"We might as well tell her," Ben said.

"Excuse me?" I shot at him.

"She's bound to find out anyway," Ben replied.

"Find out what?" asked Bonnie.

"What exactly are you hinting at?" I inquired. Ben turned his face so that it was hidden from Bonnie and winked.

"Trust me," he whispered and turned back to Bonnie. "Last summer, before Jenna took us in," he said in a normal volume, "Sabs met someone."

"He was visiting town too and we went on a few dates," I continued, knowing where Ben was going with this.

"What does this have to do with-" Bonnie tried to say.

"We're getting there. Anyway, it didn't end well," Ben cut in.

"Alas, he left Mystic Falls and met someone else," I said dreamily.

"Who was the guy?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Damon Salvatore," Ben and I said simultaneously. Bonnie's jaw dropped slightly.

"It all makes sense now…. But you can't avoid him forever," Bonnie told me.

"I can try."

"You have to go out there. Show him what he missed out on," she replied defiantly. She does have a point. Damon has no hold over me. I need to swallow any fear and just do it. I need to take a lesson from Elena.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay?" Ben asked in amazement.

"Bonnie's right: let's show him what he can't have," I said. I forced myself toward Elena's voice before I lost my courage.

I stepped into the foyer and saw the man who broke my heart… well, his loss, I had to tell myself. He looked the same in most aspects. His dark brown hair lay messily on his head. He looked to have the same muscular build, but his skin had paled a little from death. My gaze landed on his face. Those piercing blue eyes met mine. For a fraction of a second the expression we wore matched what mine must have looked like when I first saw Stefan in history class. Before anyone had time to notice, Damon had converted his features back to an essence of calm. His light blue eyes still burned holes into my grey ones. Elena finally noticed that the three of us had entered the room.

"Oh! This is Bonnie Bennett and Sabrina and Ben Corelli," she said to Damon and pointed us out. She then introduced him. "And this is Damon Salvatore, Stefan's older brother."

"We've met," I said heatedly.

"You've met?" Caroline asked incredulously. "When?"

"I don't really feel like repeating the story again tonight, so if you'll just excuse me…" I trailed off.

"You might as well as long as we're all here," Bonnie mentioned.

"She's got a point, Abri," Damon said smirking. I groaned and told the tale made up just minutes ago.

"…And that's why I was so surprised to see Stefan on Monday," I finished. "I'm going to bed." Caroline looked like she was in shock.

"Abri, stay. We can catch up. It'll be just like old times," Damon said with only the faintest hint of sarcasm.

"I'm gonna pass," I said.

"Please stay," Elena threw in. As much as I wanted to throw in the towel, I didn't want to leave her to deal with everyone alone. That's how I ended up sitting in the living room with all of them.

"I cannot believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething, but good for you. Go for it," Caroline said to Stefan.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you; you have to go get it," Damon said mock-spiritedly. I don't know what he was playing at, but he's been extremely obnoxious the entire time he's been here. What happened to the Damon I used to know? He was so sweet, caring, and always there for me; now he's a jerk. I miss the old him so much, but that's life in this world of mine.

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Caroline said before addressing Elena and continuing with, "It's only because you missed summer camp." She then seemed to start thinking things over. "God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines," she told Elena.

"I'll work with her. She'll get it," Bonnie snapped.

"I guess we can put her in the back," mused Caroline.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon butted in. Is it just me, or does no one give a crap about his opinion? No, I have to try to be polite… Wait a second, no I don't, since they think he's my ex I'll have a right to be as snippy as I want in their eyes.

"Oh, it's just 'cause her parents died. Yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun," Caroline started. Bonnie caught her eye and Caroline finished with, "And I say that with complete sensitivity." Normally I would do something to try fixing the situation, but right now I just don't want to deal with anyone.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know it's like to lose that both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die," Damon stated. Just then he looked at me, and I thought I saw a tinge of sadness and those beautiful blue orbs of his. But I won't let him get to me; I have to be strong for both myself and Ben.

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan said, shooting me an apologetic glance.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up," Damon replied with a smirk. This caused many awkward glances and shifting bodies to fill the room. I couldn't take it and I stood up.

"Bina, don't go," Elena said and I started walking to the door.

"I'm sorry, Elena; I just need some fresh air. Want to go for a walk, Benji?" I asked as I put on my coat and opened the door.

"Yeah, of course," Ben jumped up and followed me into the cool night air. Neither one of us spoke until we were a block from the house. Ben broke the tense silence.

"Are you alright, Sabs?"

"Do I look alright to you?" I stopped walking and blinked back the tears that had started to form in my eyes. Ben stopped too and put his arms around me.

"You're gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay," Ben said in a comforting tone. We stood like that on the sidewalk for awhile. My head on his shoulder, sobbing, as he held me like the protective brother he is. I don't know how long we were there, but it felt like ages. Finally, I let go of him reluctantly. We went back home.

Upon entering the house, I went upstairs without stopping or looking back. I closed the door and threw myself onto the bed. All I did for hours was continuously stare at the ceiling becoming lost in my thoughts; I thought of nothing in particular, just this and that and whatever else floated through my mind. I ignored all knocks on my door as well, and no one bothered me. It was common knowledge to walk away if I didn't answer while in a known bad mood. I stayed still and silent well into the night. The only light came from the lamp on my bedside table.

"Boo," said a voice from the corner.

"Hello Damon," I acknowledged him with a sigh. I wasn't the least bit surprised. I knew this was coming. I couldn't stay away forever, and now he knew we were here.

"I thought you'd be a little more surprised to see me," he said.

"Yeah, well… I was aware of your presence in Mystic Falls. It's a small town and don't forget the fact that Stefan is in my history class. It didn't take long to figure out who was attacking everyone," I informed him and sat up.

"So you knew I was alive?" Damon questioned, stepping out of the shadows into the light cast upon him by my lamp.

"Of course not, that was a huge shock. After I got over that, I decided it was only a matter of time before our paths crossed. And here we are." I gestured to the room around us.

"But how are you alive?" He asked me.

I laughed without humor. "The same way you are; if you call that 'being alive'."

"Who turned you?"

"My story is the same as yours," I told him. He came over to sit beside me on the bed.

"You knew about-" Damon tried to say.

"Katherine being a big bad vamp? Yeah, I knew," I said. I showed him my ring. "Ben has one too. Emily said they had already been made for us. That was one of the last things I heard her say. I think I'll let Ben tell you the rest of the story. His door's two down the hall," I snapped at him. My good manners were lessening and he needed to get out of my sight.

"Sabrina-"

"Please, Damon, just leave me alone. Once upon a time we may have been best friends…. But that time is gone forever. Good-bye," I said a little softer this time. Without another word, he was gone.

**And there you are! Hoped you enjoyed it. Thanks again for reviews/alerts/favorites... everything. Your support means a lot to me.**


	4. One Night

**A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter... A bit of a bigger interval between updates there because this is the first chapter I've written since publishing the story on FF. I'm still changing my mind quite a bit on where I want the story to go... including if I even want to include Season 2 of the show. Haha. Who knows yet? I'm still so early on. Anyway, enjoy! PS: Possibly mistakes in this one, I was in a rush to publish it :)  
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**Disclaimer: I only own Sabrina and Benjaminnnnnnn!**

One Night

Seeing Damon had definitely been a trip. I still wasn't sure what he was all about these days, and I also wasn't sure I was willing to find out. I'd had some time to think about how I was going to deal with all of the drama, and my plan was to act as though the real story was what Ben and I had told all of the humans. The only problem with that is they would assume the only past we had was a short romantic one. If anyone, including Stefan or Ben, ever let slip information only a best friend would know, we'd be in hot water.

"To repeat, the animal terrorizing Mystic Falls has been caught," said the news anchor talking on the screen. Logan Fell, I think his name was…

"Scum ball. Scum bucket," Jenna mumbled. I looked up from the magazine I was reading and gave her a quizzical look just as Elena walked into the room.

"Who are you talking to?" Elena asked Jenna before glancing at me.

"Honestly, I'm not sure why she's so mad at me. All I've been doing is sitting in this chair reading a simple fashion magazine," I said to Elena and smiled at Jenna.

"Not Sabrina. Him," Jenna said, nodding toward the man on the screen.

"The news guy?" Elena asked her.

"Also known as Logan 'Scum' Fell. Did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?" Jenna asked.

"Oh, no way. You and him?" Elena laughed. "He's cute," she added for good measure.

"He is not cute. There's nothing cute about him."

"I don't know, I'd say he's pretty cute," I told Jenna. One look into her eyes and I had to hold in a laugh.

Elena put a box on the table and sat down while Jenna switched off the TV.

"What are you doing with that?" Jenna asked as she took a seat next the Elena.

"I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom had told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display."

Jenna picked a ring out of the box. "Is that Grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally it was great-great-Grandma Mary's wedding ring," Elena answered her. Huh. I wonder if I ever knew her. Mary? Oh well, I blocked out most of my memories from those days anyway.

"How much do you think this stuff is worth? You know, like on eBay?" Jeremy asked the second he came into the room. He took an item from the box before Elena grabbed it back.

"You're not gonna find out," Elena snapped at him.

"That stuff is Mom and Dad's. You can't just give it away."

"I'm not giving it away. It's called a loan, Jeremy." Elena probably would have gone on arguing with him if the doorbell hadn't rung just then.

I went back to my magazine. It really was amazing how much the times had changed the clothes. I'd always been interested in fashion. That's not to say I was always in on the latest trends, but I figured I might as well enjoy the styles while they lasted. I also happened to like high-end possessions. I wasn't a complete material girl, but now that we could afford it, I figured we might as well. Ben and I had money from stocks and interest on bank accounts; the occasional lottery ticket. Of course the Gilberts thought we were just left a large sum from our parents after they died. All I was wearing now was a pair of dull purple jeans, a gold sequin top, shoes, and earrings, and I had a bag with the same gold ready for when I left the house later today. Actually, I thought I'd go out now. Ben was with Tyler, so it was a solo day for me if I didn't meet up with the girls.

Getting up from the table, I grabbed my purse and headed toward the door, only to run into Stefan! How exciting. I was still a little mad about the Damon situation.

"Sabrina. How are you?" Stefan asked me as if we'd only known each other since he came back to town. Which, for Elena's sake, I guess we were supposed to pretend was the situation. Screw that.

"Stefan! Homedog! What's cracking with you, man?" The look on both Stefan and Elena's faces were priceless.

"Bina, are you feeling alright?" Elena asked with a smile.

"Of course. Just in a hurry. Need anything while I'm out?" I asked her with my hand on the doorknob.

"Actually, yeah. I think we're out of shampoo. Could you pick some up?" Elena inquired hopefully.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Any kind in particular you wanted, my highness?" I responded playfully.

"Whatever kind you see," she answered sweetly. I rolled my eyes, but laughed.

"Catch you later, Stefan!" I said as I stepped out the door and closed it behind me.

* * *

><p>Shopping wasn't too bad, I guess. Being in a space like this with humans used to be kind of tough, but it didn't bother me anymore. It used to remind me of the hunt, what with people around every corner, easily concealed, but easy to surprise and everything. Goodness, I <em>really<em> needed to stop thinking like that.

Let's see, what was I looking for? Shampoo. Right. I made my way to the isle and began looking over the different brands.

"Need any help?" I heard from behind me. For a split second I thought it was just a store employee.

"Not from you," I said whilst continuing my search. Should I get the smaller bottle or the family size?

"Are you seriously going to act like that, Bri?" he asked. Could the guy not take a hint? He used to be a lot smarter.

"Don't call me that. Nicknames are reserved strictly for family and friends. Since you are neither, your request has been denied," I shot back.

He put a hand on my shoulder, and before I had the chance to swat it off, he had already turned me around to face him. I avoided looking him in the eye until he tilted my head toward his face. Damon was close. Like, I-was-breathing-in-his-scent-close. We hadn't been this close since 1864. I could touch his face again. When I realized my hand had started to lift itself up, I mentally slapped myself. I hated him. He _betrayed_ me and _left_ me for a woman he had known for barely a few months. He had known me for _years_ before Katherine had showed up.

We were still looking into each other's eyes. Finally he spoke.

"What are we doing here, Sabrina?" he questioned.

"I'm buying shampoo for Elena," I deadpanned.

"You know what I mean," he responded, a pleading look in his blue eyes. I used to get lost in those eyes… What was I thinking? I've resorted to being cliché now, too?

"I've just been going on with life, Damon. The way normal people do. Your showing up isn't going to change that." I turned around, picked the first shampoo I saw, and started walking toward the front of the store.

"Ugh, you sound like Stefan," Damon said as he started walking next to me.

"And who said that's a bad thing?" I asked, glancing at him. That was a mistake: he caught my eye and I had trouble looking away. It had just been so long.

"It's a bad thing when you're a Corelli. What happened to the two of you?"

At that I stopped walking. "What happened to _us_? What happened to you? What happened to the sweet, happy, semi-innocent, actually decent Damon Salvatore I used to know?" I asked, turning to him.

"He grew up and moved on. Which is exactly what you should be doing. Leave the past in the past and accept what's going on right now!" He was starting to sound like a fortune cookie.

"And what _is_ going on?" I lowered my voice and told him "We're dead, Damon. Out with the old, in with the new. And you definitely qualify as old. We may look the same, but things have changed, and so has everything there ever was between us."

I started walking and didn't respond when he called my name.

* * *

><p>I made it home with the shampoo undisturbed; I guess Damon could still tell when I wasn't messing around and wanted "alone time", as he used to teasingly call it. I was at the front door when I heard someone walking up behind me. Turning around I saw Ben and, not far behind, Tyler.<p>

"Hey Sabs!" Ben greeted me. "What have _you_ been up to today?"

I held up the bag with Elena's shampoo. "Just running errands." I focused on Tyler, who by now had arrived in front of me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him teasingly.

"What a sweet way to welcome someone to your home," he answered with a grin.

"Oh Tyler, you know you're never welcome in the house. You might spread fleas." This was the way it was with Tyler and me: light and playful.

"As much fun as your insulting me is…" he said as I laughed. "I actually have to drop something off with Elena for my mom. You know her, always looking for something new to show off."

"Actually, I think in this case it would be old," Ben interjected. I snorted at his lame attempt at humor.

"Well I won't keep you then. You probably have a hot date to get ready for, what with the ball being tonight and all," I told him, half to continue our banter and half because I needed him to leave. I had to talk the Ben alone about my encounter earlier that afternoon.

"Something like that," he answered before turning for the door.

"Benji, let's walk." I started down the path toward the sidewalk. Ben started after me, confused I'm sure.

"What's up?"

"While I was at the store I ran into someone." Hopefully he'd get the hint. I didn't want to risk saying the name and summoning Damon from across town or anything. Right, because now he's Lord Voldemort?

"Someone… as in the someone who we knew, and then thought was dead, then found out was alive, then pretended we didn't know, then admitted that we did know, only to make up a story about you dating him last summer? That someone? Why was he at the store?" Sometimes I think that Ben can be as bad as me at saying things that don't really make sense.

"Okay. First: I'm going to ignore the beginning of that little speech you just made because I kind of stopped paying attention after the first pause." He rolled his eyes. "Secondly: yes. Oh, and to answer the third part: I don't know _why_ he was at the store. The point is that he was."

"Did he buy anything?"

"Benji! Way off topic. Honestly, you sound like an idiotic teenage girl right now," I said, exasperated that at the fact that I'd had to wait this long to bring up the point of the conversation.

"Right, sorry. So you talked to him?" he asked and I nodded. "Okay, what did you guys say?"

"It was basically an argument about the past versus the present… how I needed to forget about what happened or didn't happen between us… and of course, how boring we've become; apparently just like Stefan."

"Ouch, that hurts," he stated simply.

"So what are we going to do about this whole situation?" I asked in an attempt to formulate a plan.

"I really don't think there's anything we _can_ do, Sabrina. If he's in town, that's not our problem." So much for a helpful brother.

"And that's all you have to say about it? He's not going to leave us alone!" I tried to nail the point into his mind.

"We'll ignore it. Just go to the party tonight, drink a little, have fun, and forget about it," he told me like it was the simplest thought in the world.

"If he's at the party?" I wasn't letting this go that easily.

"If he's anything like the Damon I used to know, or the one you've been describing, he'll have better plans," he tried reassuring me. "It'll be fine. Trust me."

* * *

><p>I adjusted my hair one last time in the bathroom mirror. I had it in a high ponytail with strands hanging down around my face. A knee-length, strapless black, brown, and grey dress with a geometric design hugged my body under a grey cardigan. My pumps were black with silver glittering heels and my clutch was black. I had matching earrings with my necklace, which had triangles and circles in the same color scheme as my dress.<p>

"Ready, Sabs?" Ben asked, popping his head into the room. We were going the Founder's Ball together, as we did with almost every social function. We worked better as a team. Stefan and Elena were going a little ahead of us, so Ben was just waiting on me.

"Yes." I checked the mirror again. "Yeah, let's go."

We ended up arriving at the Lockwoods and at the entrance just a few couples behind Stefan and Elena, so we managed to catch a glimpse of Stefan standing awkwardly in front of the door until he was invited inside. Ben and I had been in the house before due to our friendship with Tyler, so we went right in.

"Where's your father?" I heard Sheriff Forbes ask Caroline. I nudged Ben and nodded in their direction.

"In Memphis," Caroline replied curtly.

As her mother said "Good," Caroline said, "With Stephen."

"Poor Liz. It must be awful to find out your husband is gay," I whispered to Ben.

"But what a convenient way to get out of being tied to someone like that," he responded.

"Benji, you can't be serious. Talk about commitment issues. I'd hate to be the girl who falls in love with you."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not into serious relationships, huh?" he said in a way that must have been meant to justify being a guy afraid of long-term anything. "Listen, I'm going to find Matt. Meet up later?"

"Sure, sounds good." I started toward the bar. It was too early to be drinking, but I figured it was a social spot to plant myself for a while. Normally I would hang out with Elena and Caroline, but Elena had Stefan and I had no idea where Caroline had stomped off to.

I watched a little exchange between Jenna and her ex, Logan. He came onto her, she insulted him, he asked her to lunch, and she rejected him: basic Jenna drama. She had major boyfriend problems. It was possible she had dated more guys than I had, in both personality types and sheer numbers. My attention wavered from that conversation to looking around the room. My eyes had reached the other end of the bar when I saw, just my luck, Damon Salvatore. Maybe it wasn't too early to drink after all.

Before I could avert my eyes, he looked up and smirked. I rolled my eyes and turned away. He then decided to get up and walk over to me

"Well, well. What a pleasant surprise."

"What do you want, Damon?" I asked him, exasperated.

"That's not a very nice way to greet friends," he said in response to my non-existent enthusiasm.

"I hate to burst your bubble… but we aren't friends," I told him, faking sympathy.

"Which is exactly why I come to you with a proposition-" he started and was interrupted by my groan. "A proposition that, get ready for this, we be friends."

"What are you talking about?"

"We were great friends once upon a time. Let's do it again. We could have so much fun together," he tried convincing me.

"Why would I agree to that?" I asked, sure that this wouldn't lead anywhere beneficial.

"Because you're sitting here alone at a party. Come on. One night. I'll even leave you alone if you don't enjoy it." He wasn't giving up on this easily. Not to mention the prospect of him out of my hair for a while sounded wonderful. It could be helpful research to see what he's like now versus the Damon I used to relish the company of.

As much as I knew I would later regret it, I told him, "Fine. _One_ night."

"That's all I need." Then, completely ignoring the rule of personal space, he took my hand in his and proceeded to pull me in the direction of Caroline.

"Let's go in here," Damon said to her as he grabbed her arm. We were both taken into an almost empty room.

Upon entrance to said room we found Stefan and Elena looking at artifacts from my original time in Mystic Falls.

"Is that _Damon_ Salvatore?" Elena asked in astonishment at the name on what must have been an old guest list. "And Stefan Salvatore?" I was curious as to how Stefan was going to get himself out of this one. Thank goodness Ben and I had been late to the original event and not signed our names. That would have been too much of a coincidence for anyone to overlook.

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually," Damon said as an answer to Elena's questions when we walked up to the pair. He was always so full of it.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan said. He looked at Damon before glancing at me. With a confused look he noticed our hands, with were still intertwined. I quickly pulled my hand from Damon's grasp. I had agreed to friends and nothing else. I hope Caroline hadn't noticed. _That_ would have been awkward.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family," Elena told Stefan. I guess she wasn't aware of the constant glaring between the 'original' Salvatore brothers.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And _Damon_ won't dance with me." Everyone turned their attention to the speaker, Caroline.

Damon made a noise of agreement to Caroline's statement.

"Could I just… borrow your date?" Caroline asked Elena.

Elena looked a little taken by surprise. She glanced at Damon and then Stefan. "Oh, um…"

"I don't dance," Stefan interjected for her.

"Oh, sure he does! You should see him: Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all," Damon said in objection. I had a feeling he wanted to talk with Elena alone. I started to back up, but he snatched my wrist without a single change in his demeanor, so no one noticed.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asked.

"It's up to Stefan," Elena said with a slight sigh.

"Well, sorry, but I'm not gonna take 'no' for an answer," Caroline said before Stefan could say anything. She took hold of his arm and they walked away. Damon watched them go.

"Seriously, I'm going to go find-" I began to say as I tried to step away.

"Just stay for this. I want someone to witness my sincerity," Damon told me. I had no idea what he was talking about. He then turned to Elena, who looked apprehensive about the whole situation.

"I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you." I inhaled sharply; I was surprised that he would sink that low. I was really hoping there wouldn't be another Katherine-situation repeat, but I wasn't so sure now. Damon continued, "There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm... acting out: trying to punish Stefan." Therapist? I rolled my eyes, an act that was quickly becoming habit around Damon.

"For what?" Elena asked him, sending me a questioning look.

"It's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers." I wonder if he had all this crap planned out…. I wouldn't put anything past him anymore.

"How about this: I go find Ben and I'll be back in, like, five seconds?" I asked Damon. I really didn't feel like being present for another Mystic Falls history lesson.

"And I'm supposed to believe you'll come back because…?" Damon asked me skeptically.

"Because I agreed to tonight, and I'm not a promise-breaker, unlike _some_ people." I gave him a pointed look. "I'll see you around, Elena, okay?"

She nodded, looking bewildered again, and I left the room to find Ben. Or _anyone_, really.

After searching around for a while and doing a bit of mingling, I finally saw Ben across the room of the dancing section of the party. I was on my way over when I bumped into Caroline and Stefan.

"Hey, guys," I said.

About two seconds later, Damon and Elena showed up too. I needed to work on my timing when trying to avoid the Salvatores.

"What'd we miss?" Damon said as he and Caroline walked up to us.

"We were just chatting," Stefan told him. "Drink, Damon?" he asked, holding out a flute of what looked like champagne.

"No, thanks, I'll pass," Damon responded. Strange, I had never known Damon to reject a drink. Something was going on here….

Suddenly Elena turned to Stefan and asked, "Stefan, do you have another dance in you?"

"Absolutely," he said with a bit of enthusiasm, probably wanting to get away from Damon, who sighed.

Damon, Caroline, and I backed up and faced the dance floor, watching Stefan and Elena.

"They look… _so_ cute together," Caroline observed and seemed to really mean it.  
>"Don't talk, please," Damon told her. She only looked a little taken aback.<p>

"Jealous?" I teased, to which he scoffed. "How much can she know, anyway?" I said so Caroline couldn't hear.

"Basically anything," Damon answered.

"That's a lot of compulsion," I noted. Caroline somewhat resembled a puppy with a five-minute attention span at the moment. She was wondering away already.

"Alright, ready to have some fun?" Damon turned to me and asked with a raise of his brow.

"What kind of fun?" I asked with caution.

He smirked and put an arm around my waist, leading me in the direction of the house. "Any kind you want," he told me; there was probably an underlying suggestion in that.

We walked in silence until we came to an unoccupied corner of the main room where it was easy to observe all of the guests. Damon leaned against the wall, looking almost worn out.

"All your scheming taking a toll on you?" I playfully questioned.

He turned his head to look at me and said, "Of course not, I could do that in my sleep. It's trying to win you over that's got me running back and forth."

I wasn't quite sure if he was serious, but I decided not to think too much of it. Instead I wanted to know what he was up to.

"Well, I'm here now, so you don't have to worry about me," I reassured him. "But what's your current plan? I know you, and you wouldn't be here if you didn't have a secret agenda."

"That fact in particular is something I would tell a _friend_," he retorted.

"Ah, but you forget: tonight we are friends," I reminded him. That got me a small laugh.

"You've still got your wit, I'll give you that," he told me.

I smiled at Damon and leaned against the wall next to him. "What else is there when it comes to good qualities?" I looked down and caught a glimpse of the ring on his hand, which looked similar to the one Ben had. Mine was more feminine. I took hold of his hand to get a better look at it.

"Would you look at that? It's like we already have BFF rings," I said, and showed him mine as I continued to my close inspection of the blue stone engraved in the band.

He looked at the ring on my hand and asked, "So neither of you had any idea that any of this was going to happen? Emily just had the rings ready?"

"That's right. Whatever Ben told you is the story," I said. "Now you know my story. But what's yours?" I let go of his hand and looked into those blue eyes.

"_That_ I will tell you after I go and get what I came to this party to get," he said cryptically as he pushed himself off of the wall. He walked toward the stairs and I followed behind. When he reached the top, I heard Caroline behind.

"Where have you been?" she called to Damon. I stepped out of her way and allowed her to finish climbing the stairs.

"Ah," he said, "Looking for you." He put a hand behind her back and led her into a room upstairs. I walked quietly over and stood outside the door, listening. I didn't mean to be a stalker, but what he had said earlier about needing to get something had peaked my interest.

"Your brother barely danced with me for five minutes-" Caroline whined.

"Ok, just a minute. Stand right...there," Damon interrupted. What was he up to? I heard movement inside the room.

"Um, you're not supposed to touch. What is that?" Caroline spoke after the short silence.

"It's a very important crystal," Damon answered. A crystal?

"Well, how did you know that it was there?" Caroline asked, dumbfounded.

"Because I put it there," Damon told her like it was obvious.

"When?" Caroline pushed.

"A long time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you," he said. A long time ago? Okay, so during our original Mystic Falls time… that much was obvious.

"Well, what's it for?" Caroline kept going with the questions. Luckily she was there because I wanted to know as well.

"Never you mind," Damon brushed her off.

"Well, you can't just steal it," she argued. I heard them coming closer, so I walked to the staircase and slowly descended.

"It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on," Damon replied to Caroline's comment.

I went to the bottom of the steps and leaned against the wall a little ways away. I tried to look casual when Damon and Caroline reached the area I was in.

Damon turned to Caroline and said, "Why don't you go find Elena or something?"

"Alright." And she left.

Now he turned to me. I looked into his eyes. Then I looked over the rest of him. I wasn't exactly _checking him out_, but I hadn't really taken in the sight of him since the night of our reunion. He looked good. When my sight landed on his face again, he smirked. Obviously he had seen me staring.

"That wasn't what you think," I said sternly.

"Whatever you say. You look good, by the way," he told me. I shook my head in annoyance.

"You said you'd tell me what happened to you," I changed the subject.

"Alright. But it's not exactly a fun story, so I'll give you the shortened version. We have better things to do tonight," he said in response.

"Like finding crystals hidden from 1864?" I asked sarcastically.

"That was important. I'll tell you about it if tonight works out between us. Now do you want to hear the story or not?" he asked.

"Fine, fine. Let's walk. And start with why your father shot you. Ben and I saw that." I grabbed his arm and started in the direction of the Lockwood's backyard.

"As bossy as I remember. He shot us because we were trying to save Katherine from being put in the church with all the others. So much for paternal love. I think he liked you and Ben more than his own children, or at least more than me. When we woke up, Emily gave us the rings and told us Katherine was gone. I guess she wanted us to make our own decisions. I didn't want to live. Stefan did," Damon said.

"You wanted to die?" I asked.

"I thought everyone was gone. Katherine and Ben. You. I didn't see any reason to keep going. Stefan tried to convince me, but I wouldn't listen. Finally he went out and came back one night with a woman. He bit her and I couldn't resist the smell of blood. I drank, I changed, and I vowed to make his life a living hell," he explained.

We reached a spot outside and stopped. I turned to face him, suddenly seeing him in a new light.

"There is something seriously wrong with you!" Elena said as she stomped up to Damon. "You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the sheriff. Got it? Stay away from her." She walked away.

"Wait, what?" I asked Damon.

"There's something I need to take care of," he said distractedly and walked off, ignoring my calls.

"Sabs, there you are. I've been looking all over. You ready to go?" Ben said from behind me.

I turned around. "You don't think Caroline's in danger with Damon, do you?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't put anything past him. Why, what happened?" he responded.

"I was standing here with Damon," I said and he gave me a weird look, surprised that I was with Damon. "And all of the sudden, Elena came over and starting biting off his head about staying away from Caroline. I tried to ask him what was going on, but he just said there was something he had to do."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. I just had a conversation with Stefan. He said he had a plan…." Ben told me. "Let's just go home. We can stop by the Salvatores' later tonight."

"Okay. You ready now?" I asked.

"Yeah. Don't you want to say goodbye to anyone?" he responded, confused.

"I'm really not in the mood to deal with people of the present right now. I'm still working on 1864."

* * *

><p>Around one in the morning I walked from my room to Ben's. He was sitting on his bed reading a book. We had decided to visit the boarding house when no one would be awake in the Gilbert house to be suspicious. Eventually I figured we'd need to start acting like we'd grown closer to them, so we could openly associate.<p>

"You still up to coming with me, Benj?" I whispered.

He silently got up from the bed, which I took as a yes. I turned around and set out for a secret descending of the staircase. My foot was just above the first step when I realized there might be a squeaky one later on. I didn't want to risk it, even though no one would hear it anyway. One of the perks of being a vampire was being able to do things like jumping from the top of the staircase to the first floor, which is exactly what I did. I waited at the front door for Ben, who walked down the stairs trying to hold in a laugh. We went out the door and didn't speak until we were in the car and down the street from the house.

"Taking the sneaking out a little seriously, aren't we?" Ben asked me with a laugh.

"Oh, shut up."

We drove for a minute in silence until Ben broke it.

"What were you doing with Damon when Elena came up to you guys?" he questioned.

"I may have agreed to a single night of friendship earlier in the evening," I informed him. He groaned, so I tried to explain my thinking to him. "I was bored, and I wanted to know what he's been planning being back in Mystic Falls."

"You can't get mixed up with him, Sabs. It'll just bring back bad memories," he lectured.

"Relax. I can take care of myself," I snapped.

Once we reached our destination I got out of the car and took out my phone. I scrolled through my contacts until I came to Stefan and called him. After three rings he answered.

"Sabrina?"

"Hey. Open your front door." As I said it I was to the door. Ben was behind me.

The door opened and I put my phone in my pocket.

"What are you two doing here?" Stefan said as way of greeting.

"Nice to see you, too. I called because I didn't want to wake Zach," I said.

"We came to discuss your brother," Ben interjected.

"I took care of it," Stefan informed us.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, brow furrowed.

Stefan stepped aside to allow us room into the house. He led the way down into a basement I had no idea existed until now. Down the hall was a door with a small barred opening at face level. I walked over to it and looked inside. The sight saddened me a bit. Damon lay unconscious against the wall.

"He should be out for a while," Stefan told us.

"What's wrong with him?" Ben asked.

"I put vervain in Caroline's drink. When he bit her, he got some in his system," Stefan explained.

"Vervain? Where'd you even get that?" I questioned Stefan. I hadn't even known vervain was around here anymore. Most of it had been picked back in 1864.

"Zach had a resource for me," was all Stefan said in response. Cryptic….

I looked back in the room at Damon. It was almost like I'd watched him die again. But it wasn't like he was the same Damon he was in our mortal years. That was something I could only wish for.

"Sabrina, what were you doing with him tonight?" Stefan asked suspiciously.

"Why does everyone think I committed murder or something? For crying out loud, I don't even like him. One night. _One night_. That's how long I agreed to associate with him and suddenly I'm making a horrible life choice!" I blew up on him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. I just wanted to know in case you found out what he was up to," Stefan reassured me.

"Oh, um, no. I tried, but apparently he only tells _friends_ things like that, and I as I had so blatantly pointed out earlier, we aren't friends, so…." I told him.

Ben laughed. "Alright, Sabs, I think you're getting a little tired," he said to me with a grin. "I guess we'll leave you alone now, Stefan," he told Stefan.

"Before we leave, though, could you tell us what your plan is with Damon?" I asked.

"Keep him here for a while without any blood, after which he'll be a mummy for all intents and purposes. Then I thought I'd move him to our ancestors' tomb," Stefan said. Wow. Gruesome.

"Alright. Sounds… good, I guess," I replied. It sounded cruel to some extent, but Damon was theoretically a danger to the town, so I couldn't really blame Stefan. Especially with Elena being a modern-day Katherine.

The three of us went back upstairs and walked to the front door.

"We'll see you around, Stef," said Ben.

"Bye, Stefan." I gave him a hug.

"Good night, you two," Stefan told us with a smile and opened the door for us.

Ben and I had a quiet drive home. I was thinking about my evening with Damon. He had said he would leave me alone if I didn't have a good time. I doubt he knew how true that was. But the truth was, I'd had a really nice time with him. Maybe the conversations had just given me déjà vu and I'd thought it was just like old times. No matter what the case, it didn't matter now. Damon had come across as a threat, and in Mystic Falls, when there was a threat, it was taken care of. That's the main reason Ben and I _really_ had to stay out of any serious trouble. Now that we knew vervain was in the equation, we'd have to be even more cautious. We'd also have to make sure we didn't cross Stefan any time soon, seeing what he was capable of.

**A/N: And there you are! How'd you like it? I'm awful at getting back to reviews, but even if I don't respond, believe me: I read it, cherished it, smiled about it, and am extremely thankful for it. Every last one :) Oh, and if I didn't mention it before, there is (should be) a link on my profile of Sabrina's various style choices. I like to have fun with those, I know it can get super annoying reading it in the chapters, so I try to make it brief. And last thing, I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not sure how long it's going to take for the next chapter: life has been taking up so much time lately... Seriously, who does it think it is? ;)  
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